It’s been great in the past week to get some feedback from our trial of Toro, the modified Rural Twizy which has been up on the Isle of Eigg since July. Managed by Eigg Box, ten local households are taking part in the trial each having the Twizy for their exclusive use for a week at a time. As well as tracking where Toro goes, the islanders have also been adding comments in Toro’s log book.

A quick scan of the user comments gives a feel for the kinds of things an island Twizy is useful for (mainly collecting stuff from the ferry or island shop and visiting neighbours at the other end of the island):-

“To pier to collect shopping”

“pier to pick up Suma order .. did fine with all the boxes”

“pier with boat engine”

“Eigg Electric to deliver water”

“about 1/2 my trips had a person in the back – visitor, volunteer or hitchhiker”

“one load with baskets and one with lots of camera equipment”

The comments also give an insight into what works and what they liked about Toro:-

“many wonderful runs in the sun”

“the Twizy for me = freedom”

very easy to drive – I loved it”

“it was a wonderful 5 days with Toro, I want to keep him!”

“really easy to drive and impressed with its capability on the rough roads”

“my dog loves it!”

“could be used a lot as 2nd vehicle on the island”

And some things which were a problem or they didn’t like:-

“wimped out on the ……track felt too bumpy for Toro to handle”

“proper winter proofing needed for Eigg”

“plenty of room for luggage but maybe not for 2 people”

“my 6ft husband wouldn’t fit in the back”

“couldn’t fit child’s car seat in the back”

“I managed to get the handbrake stuck on”

We now look forward to our next trip up to Eigg at the start of November when we will be collecting Toro, running a feedback session with all those who took part in the trial and discussing options for low energy rural vehicles which work in remote rural areas.